Abstract:
The study investigated the impact of inquiry-oriented instructional approach (IO-IA) on
the teaching and learning of partial differential equations (PDEs) at the undergraduate
level with the purpose of addressing challenges that students face in the learning of PDEs.
A purposive sampling technique was used to select four hundred (400) students from the
two cohort groups (2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic year students) of mathematics
students. The selected students in each year group were put into two groups: control
and experimental. The study employed sequential explanatory design. Observation, test
and semi-structured interview were the data collection instruments used during the study.
The independent sample t-test for equality of means indicated that there was significant
difference between the mean scores of the control and the experimental groups in all
the phases in favour of the experimental group. The study revealed that instructional
strategies and methods, students’ ability to recall and apply pre-requisite knowledge in
solving PDEs, computational ability and availability of ICT tools were the major factors
affecting teaching and learning of PDEs. The study recommended the integration of
IO-IA by teachers in PDEs. Other recommendations made by the researcher is the
integration of ICT into the teaching and learning of PDEs, adaption of measures to
help students improve their computational abilities and the inclusion of inquiry-activities
in teaching and learning to improve retention among students. The researcher also
recommended that institutions should provide ICT tools and software and also adapt small
class size for effective integration of IO-IA in teaching and learning process.
Key Words: Differential Equations, Elaboration, Engagement, Exploration, Explanation,
Evaluation, Epistemology, Ontology, Inquiry-Oriented, Inquiry-Based, Mathematical
Modelling, visualization, Instructional Design, Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial
Differential Equations, Realistic Mathematics Education.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Science
Education, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Mathematics Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
DECEMBER, 2019
